Charles Working The Compost Pile @ El Jardin, originally uploaded by rocknrenew.

After inoculating the compost pile with EM1 effective microorganisms,
we have noticed an explosion in the amount of earthworms, as the
compost gains balance.

Students from NYC’s Grand Street School work with Rock ‘n Renew founder Jonny Dubowsky to plant seeds to kick-off the beginning of The Healthy Food For Healthy Communities Program. These students in Brooklyn, NY are working with students from Tenafly, N.j, Bayonne, N.j, and Honoka’s, HI in a collaborative learning experience which aims to empower communities to grow their own healthy food.

Students from NYC’s The Grand Street School started the day doing a Rock ‘n Renew workshop on watershed restoration at the El Jardin Paraiso site in NYC. Jonny Dubowsky gives the students a tour of the engineered wetlands, stream bed,raised food beds, and medicinal garden. Students take part in a composting workshop and make compost tea. Then the group sets sail on The Sloop Clearwater out onto the Hudson River. Clearwater, an organization dedicated to protecting The Hudson River and it’s unique ecological importance. Founder by folk legend Pete Seeger, Clearwater provides an incredible and immersive experience that helps reconnect urban youth to the amazing natural world at their doorstep.

Rock ‘n Renew teachers from 14 schools joined 100’s of other schools in welcoming the 1st annual Mets Environmental Education day @ Citi Field. Over 100 of The Grand Street School students participated as groups from The Grand Street School presented an entire program of education, music, and multi-media for this 1st annual Environmental Education Day with The NY Mets. Rock ‘n Renew founder Jonny Dubowsky hosted the event for over 7000 students from NYC. Performances by The Grand Street School’s jazz band, choir, dance troupe, and poetry and video students created an incredible production at Citi Field.
Working with one of our favorite NYC non-profits Common Cents, Rock ‘n Renew was able to connect with the ever-expanding network of schools that participate in Common Cents Penny Harvest each year. Thanks to the NY Mets, Rock ‘n Renew was able to give away several hundred free tickets to the event and the game against The Los Angeles Dodgers. (The Mets swept the series). Students from across New York city learned how they can begin sustainability programs at their school and home. Stay tuned for the next blog posting when we’ll post the student-videos that played on the Jumbotron.

Rock ‘n Renew is currently adding some amazing bands to our family of artists. We are excited to be working together with the growing family of Rock ‘n Renew artists to create sustainability programs in communities around the world.
The newest addition to The Rock ‘n Renew Family is an amazing band called: The Durgas
Check them out at www.thedurgas.com
By layering authentic reggae, African, and eastern European folk elements over strains of heartfelt American roots music, The Durgas’ songs cut through rock ‘n’ roll’s insularity and pre-conceived standards.

The brothers Benjii (voice, guitar) and Christopher Simmersbach (lead guitar) draw much of their musical influence from their childhood. Both were born in Bavaria, but raised in various parts of Thailand, Tanzania, Mali, Senegal, Italy, and the U.S. The Durgas’ music weaves the sounds and cultures of their upbringing into their music without losing touch with their roots in punk rock.

Before The Durgas, the brothers Simmersbach achieved wide notoriety playing as A Subtle Plague (1984-1998). Recording for many years for the esteemed independent label Rough Trade, the band gained a reputation as one of the best live bands in the U.S. underground. While their reputation as a live band blossomed, so did their international appeal - gaining an extensive European fanbase that allowed them to tour endlessly across the globe. In their travels, the band performed with a wide range of musicians including Iggy Pop, Mudhoney, Vic Chesnut, Jesus Lizard, Sonic Youth and Soul Asylum, to name a few. Their D.I.Y lifestyle and devoted fans led to Germany’s Rolling Stone magazine calling A Subtle Plague “the Grateful Dead of the ’90s” (more of a reflection of the band’s communal ethic than musical style).

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Compost Tea, originally uploaded by rocknrenew.

Working with students from the Grand Street School this week to brew
compost tea in the garden.
To learn about making your own compost tea, check out this video:
www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/20/how-to-make-compost-tea…

Rock ‘n Renew: Earthday and Beyond- Fund A Project In Your Community Today- Enjoy Local Produce This Summer

As we get ready for Earthday 2010, Rock ‘n Renew students in over 40 schools in NYC, NJ, VA, CA, and HI are preparing to begin their Spring 2010 community sustainability programs. Next week we will plant fruit and vegetable seeds inside the classroom so that students can transplant their seedlings to our ecology center sites in a few weeks. By the end of the school year students will have already begun harvesting healthy fruits and vegetables to distribute throughout the community.We also will continue our watershed restoration, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and compost projects to help prepare students for a variety of green-jobs. Visiting mentors from the skateboard, fashion, music, architecture, and many other industries will provide several Spring workshops and lectures to help students choose which Rock ‘n Renew summer programs they will participate in.

Rock ‘n Renew has joined forces with the members of the El Jardin De Paradiso garden in NYC’s Lower East Side. El Jardin will become the next major partner site in our location-based curriculum efforts. Working with many of the schools in the Rock ‘n Renew program, we will begin planting fruit and vegetables, and perform ecology experiments to learn about the watershed restoration efforts currently underway. We will also work with our network of scientists and activists to expand these efforts throughout the country.

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Check out the pictures from the latest Rock ‘n Renew Reforestation project. Working with students from Drury University, Rock ‘n Renew’s associate director of forestry Lanakila Manguil lead an amazing workshop as part of our ongoing native forest restoration on The Big Island of Hawai’i. Sponsored by Arbor (the world coolest and most sustainable skateboard/snowboard company) Stay tuned for a complete curriculum outline for how you can take part in an ecological restoration program close to home.

Above pictures also feature the Kula O Mala Garden, a project of The Hawai’i Sustainability Initiative Founded and Directed by Koh Ming Wei in Honoka’a, H.I. Rock ‘n Renew works in partnership with the Kula O Mala garden as part of our ever-growing network of community garden programs. Also featured is Bobby Grimes and his Vortex Compost Tea Brewer, Lanakilia Manguil (Director of Hawai’ian Studies for Rock ‘n Renew),as well as students from our partnership with Drury University. (more…)